Toy roundabout



E. FIELDS TOY ROUNDABOUT Feb. 10, 1953 Filed Sept. 10. 1947 F 2 LI. 2

INVENTOR ERNEST FIELDS ATTORNEY Patented Feb. 10, 1953 UNITED STAT-E115; PA N T 0F F I E 'ror. no mpanopa Ernest Fields. New York, N. Y.

Application September. 10, 194:, Serial 773,269..

(01. era-s1) 4 Claims. 1

This invention relates to a mechanical toy.

particularly to a mechanical toy of the class in which a selected variety of movements can be imparted to dummy for instance a toy airplane, bird or other animatby drive means seen as a spring wound motor.

' One object of th invention is to provide a mechanical toy of the general class, above reieired to, which permits the operator to impart to atoy airplane or other toy, a controlled rotary movement. Another object of the invention is a mechanical toy of the general class, above referred to, which permits the operator to impart to a toy airplane or. other. toy, a rotary movement and in addition to control the climbing and descending of the airplane as well as the take-on and the landing of the plane.

Another object of the invention is to provide a mechanical toy of. the general class, above re ferred to, which pe'rmitsthe operator to selectively impart to the toy either a controlled rotary flight movement or to cause the airplane to fly in loops.

Another object of the invention is to provide a mechanical toy of the general class, above referred to, which is equipped with a common control board or panel for control of a change from 199p flight to rotary flight and vice versa and for control of the rotary flightas to climbing and descending.

nnothe'r object of the invention is to provide a mechanical toy of the general class, above 'referred to, which permits the, operator to cause a toy airplane or similar toy first'to take off, then to rotate, then to fly through one -or more'loops, again to rotate and finally to land, thereby ofiering'a playing child a great variety of interesting and educating operations.

Other. and further objects, features and advantages of the invention Willb'e pointed out hereinafter and set forth in the appended claims forming part of the application.

In the accompanying drawing a now preferred embodiment of the invention'is shown by way of illustration and not'by way of limitation.

In the drawing:

Fig.1 is an elevational section view of the drive and control mechanism of a mechanical toy according to the invention.

'Fig."2"is an elevational sectional view along line"22 of Fig'i. I H t "Fig. 3 is a plan view of Fig. 2.

Fig. i is a plan viewof theentire mechanical toyl aceording'to the. inventioni while shaft M: continuesrotation nd Referring now to the figures in detail, the mechanicaltoy shown in" these figures comprises a base plate it preferably imprinted or painted to simulate a runway er an airport. Extension plates Ii and H are hinged tobase plate ID to extend the simulated airport; Base plate It supports a drive motor, generally designated by 12, such as conventional spring-wound motor bracket are curved as can b'estbefseen' in Fig. 1;

The closed end of the fork'is slidably passed.- through a slot 2i] 'of'a frame Zl'sripported on base plate Ill. The frame slidable on plate ii) substantially in' the direction of the apex of fork' is. As will be apparent, a displacement of frame 2! will cause' a corresponding lifting or lowering of the apex or the forl; causin also a lowering or lifting of collar I6, Fig.1 shows two different positions on framezl in full and dotted lines respectively. For'the piirpose ofdisplacing frame '2 l the sa'me is llnlge'd' to one. end of link 22; the'othe'r end of which is' pivoted to a second link 23 which in tiirn'c'anbe pivoted by rotation of a hand when Thishandwheel is rotatably supported" on '9; control board panel 25 fastened to base plate "[01 As will be evident, a rotation of the hand wheelf'conti'tols the positionof frame 2! and hencethe'aigial position of collar It relative'to'drive Shaft 14.

Guiding collar l6 's'upports' 'a dri U shown as agear 38 which is rigidly c n the collar'and is axially'slidable'and' at on drive shaft I4 so that gear 3;} can be Shaft l e e e ea fw f ni s ate. leased. This purposewill be u matically tained by the norms frictio' b shaft n th a -i The s a a. as s l U-Shabdsta ers W h is fixed to the gear as antes b seen in" g; 2;. Betw en the two arms 0 t is" pivotally supported m ns of sleeve holder "33' which so" rotatably mounted sic 1e 35;

rod is removably inserted the free end of the rod supporting a toy airplane 33 or any other toy article such as a bird or an airship. The lower end of sleeve 34 which extends from sleeve holder 33 is engaged by one end of a spiral coil 31 the other end of which engages drive shaft i i. As will be apparent, the coils of the spring engaging drive shaft l4 will be slightly reduced in diameter by reason of the bending of the spring and a rotation of the drive shaft, thereby providing a torque transmitting connection between the drive shaft and the spiral spring.

For the purpose of arresting a rotation of gear 33, there is provided a latch which is pivoted to the upper plate of motor 12 by a pivot 4|. Latch 49 is controlled by a bar 42, the other end of which is extended to control panel 25. A handle 43 connected to bar 42 serves to move the bar axially in either direction. As will be apparent, an operationlof handle 43 permits to move the nose oflatch 40 either into engagement with gear 30 thereby locking the same or to withdraw the latch nose from the gear thereby releasing the gear and the parts fixedly connected therewith for rotation by and together with shaft l4.

The operation of drive motor l2 can further be controlled by a second bar 44 which at one end is connected to a latch constructed and positioned-to engage gear 45 of the gear train of the motor, thereby arresting the entire drive mechanism.

The free end of bar 44 is also connected to the control panel 25 and connected to a handle 37 so that operation of this handle will cause axial movement of bar 44 in either direction, thereby releasing or arresting motor l2.

For the purpose of protecting the drive mechanism and enhancing the ornamental appearance of the toy, the drive and control mechanism of the toy is covered by a hollow body which may have the outer appearance of a simulated mountain formation. The upper open end of mountain formation 50 is covered by a cap 5! also simulating a mountain formation. Cap 5i is mounted axially slidably and rotatably relative to hollow body 50 and fastened to standard 3! as can best be seen in Fig. 2, so that it will rotate together with the standard.

An axial elongated slot 52 is provided in cap 5| to permit a pivotal movement of the sleeve holder 33 and with it of sleeve 34 and rod 35.

As will be apparent, the only parts of the drive and control mechanism that are visible from the outside are sleeve holder 33 and sleeve 34 in which i rod 35 is inserted.

It should be noted in this connection that hollow bodies 50 and 5| can of course have any other suitable shape, for instance the shape of the control tower of an airport.

The operation of the illustrated embodiment of a mechanical toy according to the invention is as follows:

Let it be assumed that spring I3 is wound, that the drive motor is arrested by latch 45 being placed in engagement with gear 46, and that latch 40 is released from gear 30. When the operator, suchas a child, now desires to play, it releases the motor by operating handle 41 accordingly. As a result, drive shaft l4 begins to rotate, therebyv causing rotation of standard 31.

Rotation of the standard in turn eifects rotation of gear 30 and collar l6 both fixedly connected to standard 3!. The rotation of the standard further causes rotation of cap 5! and of the 4 sleeve holder 33 with the sleeve 34. As a result, a substantially cone-shaped rotation will be imparted to rod 35, the top end of the drive shaft constituting the approximate apex of the cone. Hence, airplane 38 supported on the outer end of rod 35 will travel along a circular path. When gear 30 is released and hence rotated by shaft 14 together with standard 3!, cap 5|, sleeve holder 34 and pivot bearing 32, the rod 35 will not rotate about its own axis in spite of the lower end of spring 31 being secured to drive shaft [4 by reason of the fact that gear 30 and the parts supported thereon rotate with the same speed as shaft 14 so that there is no relative rotation between shaft !4 and gear 30 causing an axial rotation of spring 31 and rod 35. When the child now desires to cause the airplane to climb or descend, he can accomplish this purpose by manipulating hand wheel 24. A rocking of this wheel will result in an axial lowering or raising of gear 30 as indicated in Fig. l by dotted lines and in a corresponding change of the angular position of rod 35 as also indicated in dotted lines. It will be apparent that a vertical raising or lowering of gear 30, say a lowering, will result.

in a corresponding lowering of the parts supported by gear 38. namely standard 3!, cap 5|,

bracket 33, and pivot bearing 32. It will furtherbe apparent that the vertical position of the. end of spring 31 which is secured to the upper end of shaft l4 remains unchanged by a lowering of gear 35, the said gear being slidable on the shaft. Consequently, the lowering of gear 33 will result in a decrease of the vertical distance between the pivot bearing 32 and the lower end of the spring secured to shaft M which decrease, in turn, effects a downward tilting of rod. 35. Similarly, 2. raising of gear 30 entailing raising of pivot 32 will resultin a corresponding upward tilting of rod 35. As will be evident, a lowering of gear 30 will cause the airplane to climb and vice versa.

In case the child wishes to interrupt the rotary flight of the airplane and to cause the same to fly through one or more loops, he simply manipulates handle 43 so that gear 30 is arrested while shaft I4 continues to rotate. As a result, rotation of standard 3!, cap 5! and with it rotation of sleeve holder 34 about the longitudinal axis of the cone, previously mentioned, are stopped. Drive shaft M which continues its rotation will now rotate sleeve 34 and with it rod 35 about its axis. The child can then cause loop flight of the airplane bycorresponding manipula: tion of hand wheel 24.

When the child desires to stop the entire drive mechanism, he again simply operates handle 47.

While the invention has been described in detail with respect to a now preferred example and embodiment it will be understood by those skilled in the art after understanding the in vention, various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention and it is intended therefore in the appended claims, to cover all such changes and modifications.

What is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

l. A propulsion and control unit for a tethered aircraft toy comprising drive means including a vertical drive shaft, a rod for supporting on one end a dummy aircrafusupport means frictionally fitted upon said vertical drive shaft so as to provide for axial up and down displacement of the support means relative to the drive shaft and for rotation of the drive shaft in unison with the support means or relative thereto, bearing means rotatably supporting the rod and pivotally supported on the support means for rotational and up and down movement of the bearing means in unison with the rotational or up and down movement of the support means and for pivotal movement of the bearing means relative to the axis of the vertical drive shaft, the said bearing means supporting the rod at an intermediate point thereof and at an angle to the axis of the said drive shaft, a flexible member fixedly joining the end of the rod opposite to the dummy supporting end thereof to the said drive shaft for axial rotation of the rod in unison with the drive shaft, adjustment means for adjusting the axial position of the support means and the bearing means supported thereon relative to the drive shaft, the said adjustment means comprising a bracket pivotally mounted for up and down movement relative to the vertical drive shaft and slidably engaging the support means for axially displacing the latter on the drive shaft thereby varying the vertical distance between the pivot point of the bearing means and the point at which the flexible member is secured to the drive shaft and hence the angle of the rod relative to the drive shaft, and control means releasably engageable with the support means for arresting the same relative to the drive shaft or releasing the support means for rotation in unison with the drive shaft whereby the drive shaft upon arrest of the support means rotates the rod about its axis and upon release of the support means rotates the said support means,

the bearing means supported thereon and the rod.

2. A unit as defined in claim 1, wherein the said support means comprise a gear means fitted upon said drive shaft, a grooved collar secured to said gear means and fitted upon said shaft, and a frame structure supported by said gear means for rotation in unison therewith and supporting said bearing means; and wherein the said adjustment means comprise a base supporting the drive means, a bracket bifurcated at one end and with its other end pivotally mounted on said base, the prongs of said bracket engaging said collar groove for axial up and down displacement of the collar and the gear 7 means on the drive shaft, and actuating means operatively connected with said bracket for varying the angular position thereof relative to the base thereby varying the vertical distance. between the gear means and the base; and wherein the said control means comprise a locking member mounted on said base for movement between a position engaging the teeth of the gear means and a position disengaged therefrom, and

actuating means operatively coupled with the locking member for moving the same from one position into the other, thereby either arresting the gear means and the bearing means supported thereon for rotation of the drive shaft relative to the gear means or releasing the gear means and the bearing means supported thereon for rotation in unison with the drive shaft.

3. A unit as defined in claim 2, wherein the said flexible member is in form of a coil spring secured at one end to the drive shaft and at the other end to the respective end of the rod.

4. A unit as defined in claim 3, in combination with a control panel mounted on said base spaced apart from the drive means; a first control bar extending substantially parallel to said base from the panel to said actuating means for varying the axial position of the gear means relative to the drive shaft and operatively coupled with the said actuating means, a control wheel rotatably mounted on the panel, and transmission means on the panel coupling the control wheel with the first control bar so as to vary the position thereof upon a rotation of the control wheel thereby operating the said actuating means for varying the axial position of the gear means; a second control bar extending substantially parallel to said base from the panel to the actuating means coupled with the locking member and operatively connected at one end with the said actuating means, and a control lever on the panel coupled with the other end of the second control bar for operating the said locking member actuating means by actuation of the control lever; releasable brake means for arresting said drive means; and a third control bar extending substantially parallel to said base from the panel to said brake means and on one end operatively coupled with the latter, and a second control lever on the control panel operatively coupled with the other end of the third control bar for actuating the said brake means by manipulation of the second control lever.

ERNEST FIELDS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,406,733 Hinz Feb. 14, 1922 2,075,267 Christiansen Mar. 30, 1937 2,149,666 Christiansen Mar. 7, 1939 2,159,963 Bonanno May 30, 1939 2,216,899 Berger Oct. 8, 1940 2,219,658 Pasek Oct. 29, 1940 2,510,169 Caler June 6, 1950 

